Prisoner book ban: Are the Lib Dems starting to turn against Grayling?
Interesting development in the ongoing row over the prisoner book ban. Later today Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrats' man in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), is having talks with staff from the Howard League for Penal Reform.
They're meeting with shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan in the morning. He's always been rock solid in the row and has pledged to repeal the rule if Labour get into office. Then they will meet up with leading authors like David Hare, Mark Haddon, Sarah Waters, A.L. Kennedy and Kathy Lette outside Downing Street to hand in a letter to the prime minister. After that, they'll head back into parliament to meet Hughes.
It's not clear if this signifies a change of heart from the Lib Dem. So far, his position has been indistinguishable from that of the MoJ. In fact, when the story first broke he tweeted out, word for word, the ministerial lines to take. Now, it seems he may be pulling further away from Chris Grayling's position.
One thing's for certain: the justice secretary will be furious. Grayling hates the Howard League. He's refused to budge on the prisoner book ban, even though it's a relatively minor policy which he could have put to bed easily if he'd been thinking tactically, rather than emotionally. He was sent a letter from various authors and campaigners in early April asking for a meeting to express their concerns but it was snubbed. He still hasn't written back. That's partly the reason they've been forced to go to Downing Street in the first place. They certainly weren't getting anywhere going through Grayling.
As Howard League chief exec Frances Crooke said today:
"The justice secretary's refusal to meet with us to discuss the issue has succeeded only in galvanising the campaign and baffling anyone who believes we should be broadening access to reading and not restricting it. This is a petty and counter-productive policy which the Ministry of Justice has tried and failed to justify with spurious arguments."
Hughes may have been loyal so far, but now he needs achievements to his name from his short stint as a minister. He's going into an election in a few months time and right now he has little to show for himself.
The Lib Dems have been reticent about taking a public position on the prisoner book ban because they'd rather pick their battles on more popular topics. But they're now pursuing something new in British political life: a base-of-base strategy – the ruthless targeting of diminishing returns. And things like banning inmates from receiving books, instituting a punishment regime in jails and spiralling suicide rates in overcrowded prisons do actually matter to liberals. So putting a bit of clear blue water between them and Grayling may not be such a bad idea.
At a fundamental level, Grayling is pursuing the idea that punishment and humiliation, via private sector providers, is the best way to rehabilitate someone. You don't need to be particularly liberal – or particularly concerned with evidence – to find that idea unconvincing.
He's not even going about this programme with civility. Grayling is a thug, hammering home his message about "right-wing solutions" in an increasingly illogical and ferocious manner. When writing on Conservative Home or the Daily Mail – where he clearly thinks he's among friends – he often loses the plot entirely.
He's not doing the Lib Dems any favours by dressing up his policy agenda in rhetoric which is toxic to their core values. Why should they do him any favours in return?
